


For Whom the Bell Tolls

by LawlietLover1117



Category: Death Note & Related Fandoms, Death Note (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Family, Angst, Family Bonding, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-13
Updated: 2018-08-13
Packaged: 2019-06-26 15:33:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15666087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LawlietLover1117/pseuds/LawlietLover1117
Summary: Plagued by the incessant ringing of the bells, L Lawliet makes a video call to somebody rather important to him, for what he can't help but feel may be the last time...AU based on the original Death Note plot





	For Whom the Bell Tolls

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! 
> 
> I'm new to using Ao3 and this is my very first fanfiction ever! 
> 
> I wrote this after getting back into Death Note recently and I was suddenly hit with a burst of inspiration for this story that would not leave me alone until I stayed up half the night to write the first draft.  
> I refined it over the following days. As I said, this is my first time writing fanfiction, so I'm not entirely confident in my grammar or punctuation, but I did my very best and blast writing it!
> 
> This is canon compliant and set after catching Higuchi and before L kicks the bucket (obviously) I based it on the originally intended plot of Death Note (I won't say what it is bc spoilers but I'm pretty sure most of you know where this is going)
> 
> I hope you all enjoy my little story! :)

Clang

L Lawliet was wide awake.

clang

That wasn't unusual in and of itself, he seldom slept. Sometimes going days on end without so much as a moments shut-eye.  
He was no stranger to the late hours of the night blanketing Japan as they did now.  
But the reason why he was awake, now that was unusual.

clang

A few days ago there had been a major breakthrough in the Kira investigation.  
They had managed to apprehended Yotsuba executive Kyosuke Higuchi a few days ago.  
Judging by the plethora of evidence from both surveillance and eye-witness accounts there was no doubt about it: this man could be no one other than Kira himself!  
Unfortunately, before he could be interrogated, he had suddenly dropped dead...  
How convenient.

clang

But at least his method of killing, the Death Note as it was called, was now in task-force hands.  
Along with the stark white Shinigami who watched over it.

Kira was caught. They had his means of killing. They knew how he did it. That was it. All done. case closed. Right?

clang

So then why

clang

could he not shake this horrible sinking feeling in the pit of his chest?

clang

As if a cold, dead pair of hands were wrapped around his heart and beginning to squeeze.

clang  
clang 

This feeling that something awful and unavoidable was on the horizon...

clang  
clang

and headed directly for him.

clang  
clang  
CLANG

A clap of thunder rumbled through the tower shaking L out of his thoughts.  
He had to keep himself together.  
It wasn’t over yet.  
Yesterday morning, even though Higuchi was dead, someone had begun punishing criminals again.  
L could only conclude that someone else possessed a notebook and had taken it upon themselves to continue Kira’s work.  
Already He had a sneaking suspicion of just who that someone might be...

clang

If he was ever to come out of this on top he could not allow himself to be so easily distracted.

But first...  
Turning on his heel he stuffed his hands inside his pockets and walked slumped over out the room at the speed of a military march.

He had to make a call...

 

 

clang

 

 

L's private computer room was really little more than a glorified closet.  
It was a small, compact room. with no windows and only the one door, which he locked and alarmed behind him upon entering.  
There was no furniture in the tiny dark room save for the single computer on the floor, which whirred along silently as L sat hunched over the keyboard typing fervently with his index fingers.

His call placed, L moved his hands back to rest them atop his knees while he waited in still silence for the recipient of his call to pick up.

clang 

The screen of the computer monitor suddenly buzzed to life displaying the soft, warm earth tones of a room very familiar to L.  
An elderly gentleman, balding with wisps of uncombed white hair suddenly graced the screen. His glasses glared in the light obscuring his eyes.

"L!" said the man, surprised.

"Hello Roger" L replied in a flat tone.

"What is it? Is there something wrong?" Roger asked.

"No nothing is wrong..." L brought his thumb to his mouth, "I just called to talk to them ."

"That's all? But you just called 3 days ago."

"So?" L shot back with a blank stare, "Does there have to be something wrong for me to want to check in on my boys?"

Roger shifted. taken aback by L's bluntness  
"Well no, I suppose not it's just... it’s unlike you to call back again so soon after such a short time." 

L ignored him  
"So the boys, they're here in the house right now then?"

Roger blinked, "Oh...yes of course they're here. I believe they're playing in their room at the moment. Shall I bring you to them?"

"Yes please." replied L removing his thumb from his mouth and wrapping his arms around his knees as if he were hugging himself.

Roger sighed, "Very well then."

Roger began to wheel a small mobile cart with the laptop perched atop it out of his office into the hallway and towards their room.

L sighed and closed his eyes.... 

Though he hated to admit it, Roger was right.  
Normally he would never call back so soon after such a short time-span.  
His computer was set up so that it could not be located by any outside party and so was Roger's, but there was still always the possibility of someone he worked with finding out about the existence of these calls (and to whom) which L emphatically did not want.  
It wasn't that he distrusted any member of the task force in particular, it was just that L was obviously a very private person. And though he had trusted them with seeing his face, there were still several things preferred to keep to himself.  
One could never be too careful in his line of work after all.  
In a normal situation when all was well, He tried to call them around once around a week, the time of these calls often varied, but usually he called in the early moonlit hours of the Japanese mornings, making it mid-afternoon at good old Wammy's House in Manchester.  
However he often he had to go longer than a week between calls if there was a particularly pressing or matter on the Kira case and he absolutely could not spare a moment. 

The past several weeks had been such a pressing matter.

Even after Light Yagami's voluntary 50 day imprisonment seemingly proved his innocence, L still didn’t find him clear from suspicion.  
But at the same time, he could no longer keep him confined either.

So, he had to be supervised. And L preferred to do this personally with a nifty pair of metal handcuffs linking the two of them together.  
The cuffs were to stay on 24 hours a day, and did not come off under any circumstances. Not even for sleeping or using the restroom.  
He had entertained the idea of slipping out of them as Light slept in the late hours of the night to make a call on a rather important date.  
But ultimately he could not justify taking such an enormous risk. For after all, if Light woke up and found him gone, he could begin to suspect what he was really doing. And then...

clang

What might happen if Kira knew about them...?

clang

All the same, He felt guilty for not being able to contact them for such a long period of time and also for having missed out on said rather important date.  
So he had arranged for a present to be sent to each of them according to their interests to make up for it.

...He only hoped it was enough

clang

Roger opened the door to a plain room with undecorated white walls and tanned hardwood floors scuffed from the years of countless small feet scattering across them.  
A sturdy bunk-bed sat against the right wall from the door. The top bunk was unmade with the bright red blanket strewn haphazardly across the posts while the bottom was neatly kept and made up with a small teddy bear sitting atop the pale blue comforter. his fuzzy backside resting against the pillow. 

Roger began to push the cart gingerly through the doorway so as not to topple it's contents. 

L opened his eyes and perked up where he sat bringing his thumb back up to his mouth.  
Before him now was the sight and sound he was desperate to see. 

Two twin little boys, each just over 7 years old, sat sprawled out on the floor beneath the sunbeams of a window on the far back wall of the room.  
Strewn around them was an assortment of colorful toys, puzzles, and games-though currently they were building a rather elaborate domino replica of the institution they currently lived in.  
It was quite an impressive structure considering their young age.  
But then, he expected nothing less from them considering their parentage after all...

“Hand me that piece so I can finish the roof Near!”

Said Mello, the sandy blond elder of the two to his white-haired junior by two minutes who clutched a small toy robot in one arm.  
With his free hand Near happily handed his brother the small plastic object he’d asked for.  
They were both so absorbed in their project that they hadn’t even heard Roger enter with the laptop cart.

Roger cleared his throat and Mello raised his head to look across the room at their caretaker and the laptop cart he'd just wheeled in

“Awesome! now all we need to finish it is...oh Near look! Dad’s calling!” 

L couldn’t help but let a faint smile grace his lips from behind his thumb as his two sons shot up from the floor like rockets and bounded over to the laptop with glee.

"Dad!" greeted Mello. His socked feet sliding across the wood floors as he screeched to a halt just in front of the cart

“Hello boys! It's nice to see you again!”  
L gave a small wave of his hand, "You can leave us now Roger. Thank you."  
He said dismissing the lingering old man.

"of course." Roger nodded silently to the boys and let himself out of the room shutting the door firmly behind him.

Both boys watched him walk out before Mello continued:  
"You're calling us again? what for? Are we in trouble or something?"

"Oh, no you’re not in trouble," said L. "And who says I need a reason to check up on my sons?" 

Mello shook his sandy locks and smiled.

"I know that! It's just... It's only been 3 days and you NEVER call more than once a week! You didn't even call for our birthday this year.”

The smile on L's face vanished suddenly at the mention of missing their shared birthday. 

clang

He hadn’t meant to miss it. really he hadn't.  
It’s just that the timing of it couldn't have been worse, since it fell directly in the middle of his handcuffing with light...

clang

Near took notice of his father’s change of expression and moved quickly to remedy the situation by giving his blabber-mouthed brother a swift kick to the leg.

"ow, what are you..?"  
Near glared at him.  
The realization of what Mello had just said caught up with him.  
Rubbing the back of his neck with his hand he started to talk again:

“...oh it’s ok though dad. Don't worry about it! Those real swiss chocolates you sent were amazing! I ate them all in one afternoon and got sick.  
Near loves his robot too! He never wants to put it down!"  
The snowy-haired boy nodded and hugged said robot a little tighter.

Mello moved on, trying to change the subject: "So if we're not in trouble and there's nothing wrong, then why are you calling back again so soon?"

Their efforts to make him feel better were not lost on their father, who appreciated it silently.  
"Well things have been slower here recently." replied L shifting his thumb around on his lips.

"We've had a bit of a breakthrough in the kira case and I find myself having a great deal more free time these last few days. So..."  
he tilted his head playfully

"What better way to spend it than checking in on my favorite sons? Besides..."  
He leaned towards the webcam mounted above the monitor like an owl swooping in on its prey.

"You haven't been getting into too much trouble now, have you?"

Near clutched his treasured robot closer to his chest and giggled.

oh that laugh...

clang

Their little giggles and witty quips kicked held his heart hostage every time he heard them. 

clang

Everything about the two of them left him head over heels in fatherly love. 

Mello's rambunctious and impulsive personality never seemed to quit.  
His ability to talk for hours on end sometimes left L wondering if he really took after him at all.  
But his ravenous lust for chocolate left no doubt about his paternity.  
He had another trait he'd inherited from his father too: a well-sharpened mind like a steel trap.  
Whenever he was faced with a problem, Mello would chase it down mercilessly like a hunting dog until the solution gave up and surrendered itself from sheer exhaustion.

Near on the other hand was quiet and shy.  
When he wasn't with his brother He liked to keep to himself and seldom spoke aloud unless he had something important to say.  
He more obviously took after his father directly. But his docile exterior however, L knew, was a front.  
His dark eyes which matched his fathers were tiny portals into a stormy and active mind, constantly making key observations of the world around him.  
He had a knack for zeroing in on the smallest of details any other person would miss. 

The two of them as individuals were almost polar opposites, where one was cold the other was hot. Where one would stop the other would go.  
But in their differences, they found remarkable strength as they worked together phenomenally. Each compensating for the others weaknesses and playing to his brother's strengths.  
As iron sharpens iron, so they sharpened one another. Reaching heights and obtaining results that neither could obtain working on his own.  
They completed each other. Truly they were a textbook definition of a perfect team. 

 

Yes There was certainly no doubt about it.  
L had two wonderful. amazing. remarkable sons. 

 

...Would he ever see them again without a screen between them?

clang

After all, Mello was right, he had missed their birthday this year... 

clang

Would he miss the next one too? What about the one after that...

clang

He had missed Christmas too... Who's to say what else he had missed in their lives that he couldn't participate in from the other side of this little screen.

clang

He remembered living with them at Wammy's house before the kira case had called him to Japan for these long months. 

clang

He remembered being with them sitting in the sunbeam under the window, helping them build playing card skyscrapers, giving them puzzles and tests quite advanced for their age, watching as they put their brilliant little minds together to find the solution.

clang  
clang

Would he ever see them again after this call?  
Hold each of them safe and secure in his arms as tightly as he could? 

clang  
clang

Tell them he loved them more dearly than anyone or anything in this earth...

clang  
clang  
CLANG

"...Dad?"

Near's concerned voice brought L out of his daze.  
His head snapped up to look at the screen.  
Both of his sons stared back at him. They looked as if they had seen a ghost. Their faces crestfallen with abject expressions of concern and fear. 

L mentally kicked himself for allowing his mind to wander like that in front of them.He sat up more erect 

"Yes boys? what is it?"

"...are you sure there's nothing wrong?" asked Mello.

"No, no. of course not." L said before he began to look down at the ground, his bare toes fidgeting with the carpet beneath him.

Except...

Clang

He took a deep breath. It was now or never he supposed.

clang

"It's just..." He looked up at the monitor to stare them both directly in the eyes.  
His face Fierce with determination he took a breath and started:

"Boys, you both know that I love you dearly don't you?"

Mello blinked and turned his head to exchange a look with Near who looked equally befuddled. Unsure of what their father was getting at.

"Yeah, of course we do..." he said as they both turned back to face their father. "Why?"

"Oh, it's just..."

clang

"I know I haven't been home in awhile and I would never want for either of you to doubt how much I care for you both."

clang

L looked at the ground no longer able to meet their eyes.  
"Truly, from the bottom of my heart I love each of you more dearly than anyone or anything in this world."

clang  
clang

He shut his eyes tight.

"If anything should ever happen to me... I would never want either of you to doubt that" 

clang  
clang  
CLANG

There was a pregnant pause.

.  
.  
.

"Is that all?" Near asked. 

L looked up, taken aback at the abruptness of his more quiet son's quick response given the gravity of what he'd just said.  
He hadn't been aware he'd been holding his breath until he released it in that moment.

Near went on:  
"Of course we know you love us! Even if you can't always be here, you make sure to show us all the time!"  
He held his robot out toward the monitor as evidence. 

"And besides, why would anything ever happen to you dad?" Asked Mello who looked relieved

"You're the best detective in the world! You'll catch Kira no problem! I know you can and I want you to no matter what!  
Even if you have to miss our birthday again next year or even the year after that.  
You can just send me some more of those fancy swiss chocolates if you miss our birthday again to make up for it!"  
Mello lowered his head coyly,

"You could go ahead and send them out in advance if you'd like..."

The smile reappeared on L's pale lips.

"Don't push it Mello"

Near giggled again as Mello pouted.

"Eh, it was worth a shot." he shrugged.

"So." Said their father, who felt markedly better now—they did always have a knack for brightening his mood.

"Let's go back to that story from earlier about the lunchroom and the brownie thief. That sounds like an interesting case. I want to hear all about it"  
said L, re-settling himself on his haunches and waiting patiently for his son's voice.

Mello began to start in again and excitedly told their father all about how someone had stolen a tray of brownies from the Wammy's kitchen and how he and Near had worked together to find the culprit.  
L felt himself filled with pride at their excellent problem solving and deductive reasoning skills and how they'd worked together as a team to solve the case.

As L listened to their tales of missing brownies, schoolyard scuffles, schoolwork, toy robots, domino towers, and all the other events big and small of his son's everyday lives the awful sinking feeling within him began to ease. And the deadly hands clutched around his heart loosened their grip.

Maybe there was something awful on the horizon. Tomorrow might very well bring a fate unavoidable, and tragic. 

Buy today, right now, he was here. They were here. They were all together, tucked away in their own private paradise connected by satellites and screens.  
Time had stopped and the outside world didn't exist for them right now.  
Besides, L reasoned to himself, even without him around they would always have each other.  
They would be fine.

And That was good enough for L.

.  
.  
.  
.  
.  
.  
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clang  
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.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this!  
> Most of you probably guessed that this is based on the fact that Near and Mello were originally intended to be L’s twin sons (an idea I like much better than canon, so here we are)
> 
> I don't know if I'll continue this specific story, but I certainly intend to write more DN fics in the future, which I hope you will enjoy as well.
> 
> Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading!!!


End file.
